Devlog #2: fixing the first ten minutes

A week ago, I didn't know where to turn anymore. Server, client, player feedback, community, content, and a family life on the side. So I stopped, and I simply reread all your feedback, one by one.

The verdict was clear

The vast majority said the same thing: the tutorial was a chore, and nobody understood the fights. I decided to set everything else aside for one thing: the first ten minutes of the game, from the login screen to five minutes after the tutorial. Plus stability, because server bugs were kicking you out mid-game. And the pace of combat, way too fast.

My nightmare was called the tutorial

I'll be honest: I rebuilt the tutorial seven times. Originally, it was the game on your machine that ran it, not my server. A rookie mistake. What a mistake, actually: it's the hardest thing I've had to fix, and the number of characters left stuck inside it... ouch.

Now it's back in the right order: you fight within the first minutes, the dialogues are short, and the lore is there for those who want to read it, no longer forced on everyone. To make sure it doesn't get stuck anymore, I relaunched it at least two hundred times this week: create a character, hit the bug, fix it, start over, on a loop. I decided to sacrifice a bit of sleep.

Making combat readable

The other big piece was understanding what's happening on screen. Digging in, I found that the stats and effects on a large share of skills weren't really working, which made fights impossible to follow. I fixed that, slowed the pace, and added markers everywhere: who's on my team, which enemy plays which role, who's hitting whom.

The result surprised me. Testing in multiplayer, the fights became enjoyable and tactical. Slowing the pace stops you from spamming your skills any which way, you have to think about every exchange. I wanted to replay every class just to see. That's a good feeling!

What I want you to feel

Before, a new player was lost, and they left. Now, I want them to feel the urge to level their character, discover their skills, craft their own build. Then to measure up against others in the arena, or to seek a challenge on the big monster packs, as a team. And soon, to capture the familiar of their dreams!

What's next, honestly

There's still work to do. Stability, I keep hardening it. The final look and the beautiful maps are still waiting for an artist I don't have yet. And the next big project, the one closest to my heart, is capturing familiars: your companion, chosen from among the world's creatures. I'm getting there.

In the meantime, everything I'm describing here is already in the game. It's an early access made by a developer on his own, between a job and a child, and it moves forward every week.

Kanarion runs in your browser, no install. Come test the new beginnings, and keep telling me what's wrong on Discord. This update, you're the ones who wrote it.

Marc